Consider problems of furnishing an apartment

[Mindy]

THE PIT FALLS OF FURNISHING YOUR INVESTMENT

Remember this is your investment, you will NOT be living in the apartment.
Your tenant will not treat the furniture as if it’s his/her own.
You require quality and durable furniture, don’t go for that cheap bargain, after your first tenant it will look tried and worn.

1. It can be one of the most time consuming parts of your investment.
(If your investment is not in your home town you have the added expense of travel and accommodation to take into account)

2. Deciding what looks good and most of all fits in the apt/house
(Remember the access to your apartment; can you get that sofa in??)

3. Buying and sourcing at the right price.
(You will have to treck around shops to get the best offers)

4. Waiting for deliveries, most furnishing companies quote anything from 4-12wks
(During this period you are losing anything from 1-3mths rent, you also have to arrange access for the furniture and you will not get it all from one shop.)

5. Most furniture come flat packed, even the most expensive needs to be built up
(You will have to pay a joiner or build up your purchases yourself.)

6. And remember a house full of new furniture is a van full of rubbish.

[Bob]

Good article, when I completed on my first flat I hadnt realised that you have to wait so long for furniture such as sofas.
One thing I would add is find out from your letting agent whether they would advise furnishing your property or letting it unfurnished. Strangely letting unfurnished can sometimes lead to tenants that are likely to stay longer term.

[Mindy]

One bit of advice I would give is to put yourself in the place of your tenant. That doesnt mean that it has to have everything that you have at home but think of what is essential. I'd say that the property has to look clean as well as be clean imagine how whatever youre buying will look after several tenants. You wont want to sit on a grubby looking sofa or sleep on a tatty bed. I always think that a simple metal bed works better than a divan bed, if you get one without a foot board it will not only make the room look bigger but will be more comfortable for the taller tenant. I wouldnt bother with bath mats and pedestal mats ( unless the tenant specifically asks for them ... yes the Americans tend to) Towells also soon look tatty so dont provide them unless asked for them.
Kitchen equipment needs to be reasonable can opener bottle opener yes garlic press no. Full set of glasses no - 4 wine glasses and 4 tumblers is enough. Full set of kitchen knifes no - one decent sharp knife yes. Think of the things that you use every day to prepare a simple meal and you wont go far wrong. Another thing to think about is what will happen if you dont provide a certain item, a good example of this is an ironing board if there isnt one chances are the tenant will iron on your carpet.

[Lisafwg01]

I'd also keep in mind that the tenant is most likely going to want to put their own touches on "their home" and make it look as much like them and their tastes as possible. It is best to keep things in the neutral color pallet; you may love purple, but your tenant may hate it!

[Mindy]

Absolutely dont choose something just because you fancy experimenting, one letting agent in Chester had told me that he was having problems letting a property because it had purple carpet and a bright green suite, expensive errors to put right, did he tell the landlord no...... did he tell everyone else ...probably

[Mindy]

If you are new to being a landlord there is something that you will not expect, the generosity of tenants, with every change of tenant there will be some sort of issue with the inventory if your letting agent is good they will resolve it, this means replacing the item concerned, not giving you back £1.50 for a missing wine glass. What your letting agent will not get involved with is extra items left in the apartment and you probably will not get told. From my experience this can range from extra kitchen items (usually ok) to extra furnishing items not so good for example your furnished flat can end up having granny type throws and cushions added. Another thing that they like to leave is tea coffee sugar half bottles of orange squash etc not the sort of thing as a new tenant you would consider using. So make sure all such items are removed. The exception to this I'd say would be left over cleaning products and bin bags after all you want to encourage your next tenants to be clean and tidy.